1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wear-resistant electrically conductive reinforced liner for center plate structure of a railway vehicle and method of making same.
2. Prior Art Statement
It is known to provide a wear-resistant liner made of a reinforced polymeric material for a center plate structure of a railway vehicle and as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 841,175, filed Oct. 11, 1977 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,888 issued Feb. 19, 1980. However, the reinforcement provided in a liner as disclosed in the above-mentioned application is buried or embedded such that opposed surfaces thereof cannot be contacted by a truck center plate and a body center plate whereby such reinforcement is ineffective as an electrical conductor between center plates. It has also been proposed in the above-mentioned application to provide electrical continuity through the opposed center plate engaging surfaces of such liner by utilizing electrically conductive particles embedded in the polymeric material of the liner; however, electrically conductive particles embedded in a polymeric matrix do not provide a path of optimum electrical conductivity and any increase in the quantity of electrically conductive particles per unit volume of polymeric material tends to drastically reduce the load-carrying character of the polymeric material and hence the liner.
The need for a reinforced wear-resistant liner for center plate structure is well known. It is also known that the need exists to provide effecient electrical continuity between a railway car body and a railway truck to provide dissipation of static electricity in the car body as well as provide electrical continuity from rails to a train of cars for optimum electrical signalling purposes.